Analyst firm Gartner has advised customers of Omnissa – the company spun out from VMware's end-user compute business – that they need to take stock because the new org isn't yet able to offer a strong roadmap.
That advice landed last Friday in a document titled "The Future of VMware's EUC Products." The authors, a quartet of Gartner analysts, recommend that users of the Workspace ONE application publication and device management platform, and the Horizon desktop virtualization range, need to conduct a risk assessment and create contingency plans.
The firm isn't pessimistic about Omnissa's prospects. Indeed, the advice notes that Omnissa's owner – private equity outfit KKR – has declared an intention to expand research and development, and to pursue new strategic partnerships. KKR also has form investing in and expanding comparable products offered by Parallels (which is owned by Alludo, formerly Corel – also a KKR company).
Anticipate increased pricing and amended discounting structures
But Gartner isn't impressed by what Omnissa has so far said about its plans. In particular, an ambition to create AI-infused autonomous workspaces. In the analysts' estimation, that plan "lacks detailed product roadmaps [that] infrastructure and operations leaders need." Users are advised to press Omnissa for more detail to inform their planning process.
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Another item of concern is licensing. Omnissa's plans in that regard are unknown, but Gartner advised customers to "anticipate increased pricing and amended discounting structures." If that happens, Omnissa won't be alone in doing so: its direct rival Citrix has already changed licenses and now only sells big bundles.
Omnissa users may have further licensing issue to consider if they run its apps on VMware's vSphere, vSAN and vCenter. Broadcom no longer sells those as standalone products. Omnissa is allowed to resell a combined license for them, but on condition they are used only for Horizon virtual desktops and applications. Gartner warns it's unclear how long that arrangement will remain in place, and recommends Omnissa clients make sure they secure the appropriate entitlements.
Gartner therefore reckons users need a contingency plan that considers migration to a new vendor.
While alternatives are available, the analysts offered the following warning:
It gets worse: "Moving from Omnissa to a new solution may reduce performance or increase costs," the document states.
Omnissa has previously told The Register it's not ready to discuss its plans in detail. ®